Chapter 200

Seeing Xu Yanfeng's half-smile, Xia Xi blurted nonsense: "I made sweet and sour pork ribs, do you want to eat?"

Xu Yanfeng stared, his gaze dropping to the mess on the floor, indeed there were sweet and sour pork ribs: "You mean that?"

Xia Xi: "……"

She spoke without thinking, forgetting logical consistency; a moment ago she said the tray was knocked over, the next moment she asked him to eat the sweet and sour pork ribs she made, contradicting herself—anyone could tell the earlier statements were nonsense.

Xia Xi scratched her forehead with her fingertip, gave a dry laugh: "Wait a moment, I'll go buy another serving."

She first simply cleaned up the trash on the floor, then went to the window to buy food; unfortunately the sweet and sour pork ribs were sold out, the remaining dishes she didn't particularly like, so she switched to another stall and ordered Xu Yanfeng claypot noodles, plus a side of cold dressed vegetables.

Xu Yanfeng went over to help her carry it.

The two sat facing each other, Xia Xi handed him clean chopsticks and spoon, then began to confess: "I found out the post was made by Zhou Xiaoyu; I originally wanted to find a time to confront her and give her a little lesson, but she kept provoking me over and over without restraint. Coincidentally I ran into her in the cafeteria, and on impulse I covered her with whatever I had in my hand… The only thing I had in my hand was the tray."

After finishing, she lifted her eyelids and glanced at the person opposite; he used his chopsticks to pick up a large slice of beef from the claypot and gave it to her: "I came over just for this."

Xu Yanfeng pulled out his phone and pulled up the surveillance video the innkeeper had sent him.

Xia Xi stared intently at the screen; the camera angle was poor, only capturing the person's side profile, sneaking along behind her with hunched shoulders, raising his phone to secretly film her, but it was not hard to recognize that the person was Zhou Xiaoyu.

She had not wronged her.

Xia Xi pressed the lock screen key, returned the phone to Xu Yanfeng: "From the surveillance video, she truly looks like a lewd pervert, showing how deeply she loves you and how deeply she hates me."

Xu Yanfeng's hand paused, he looked at her expressionlessly: "Don't drag me down."

Xia Xi smiled, happily picking up the noodles, pursed her lips and blew on them, took a big bite, together with the kelp shreds and tofu skin shreds, the texture was rich: "What's going on, the claypot noodles taste even better than usual; it must be because you're here."

Across a sixty-centimeter-wide dining table, Xu Yanfeng extended a finger and pressed it on her forehead, signaling her to stop teasing him, then told her the truth: "Actually, you didn't need to confess just now; I didn't see how you disciplined Zhou Xiaoyu, when I arrived I only saw you talking to her, and then she ran away wiping her tears."

Xia Xi: "……"

In her heart she silently cursed: "Damn it, the ladylike act was all for nothing!"

Xu Yanfeng still wanted to say, she didn't need to act demure and ladylike in front of him; he already had a clear image of what she was like in his mind. Seeing that saying this might make her angry, he held back.

Xia Xi's emotions came and went quickly; in the blink of an eye she put her embarrassing moment behind her, glanced at Xu Yanfeng a few times, lowered her head, and spoke softly: "Today is Friday, I have no classes this afternoon."

Xu Yanfeng knew her schedule, didn't lift his eyes, leisurely twirled the noodles in the claypot with his chopsticks, waiting for the temperature to drop a bit so it wouldn't be too hot, then ate it; every move showed good table manners: "So?"

"So, does your invitation last night for me to stay at your apartment still count?"

Xu Yanfeng coughed softly: "No can do this afternoon, I still have to go back to the company, I don't have time to keep you company……"

As a hint of disappointment just appeared on Xia Xi's face, Xu Yanfeng immediately added the unfinished second half: "Evening works." He spoke just as softly, so that besides them, no third person could hear.

"Bastard." Xia Xi laughed.

She wouldn't know how many pairs of eyes in the cafeteria were fixed on the two of them, how many topics revolved around them.

"Xu Yanfeng basically doesn't come to school anymore; he must have come specially for Xia Xi, afraid she'd be wronged."

"Definitely, didn't you see his shirt and suit pants are very formal? He came straight from work."

"Although I don't know what they're talking about, that atmosphere is really great to ship; just now did you see, Xu Yanfeng gave Xia Xi a side dish and even touched her forehead. No wonder Zhou Xiaoyu turned into a dark, crazy fanatic—I'm even feeling jealous! No, I'm just joking."

"Pretty funny, have you noticed? When Xia Xi and Zhou Xiaoyu confronted each other head-on, she was like a female warrior with all skills maxed out; the moment she turned around and saw Xu Yanfeng, she instantly switched to a different style, her face full of bashfulness."

"Hahaha I saw that too, the contrast is huge."

"Friends, that post on the tieba has been deleted; what does that mean? It was indeed done by Zhou Xiaoyu."

"It must be that Xia Xi said she would report to the police and have them investigate, which scared Zhou Xiaoyu. If only we had known earlier, why bother in the first place."

Seeing Xu Yanfeng off, on her way back to the dorm Xia Xi learned from Zhao Lei that Zhou Xiaoyu had deleted the post; it seems she's not that stupid.

Xia Xi doesn't have that much energy to waste on someone like Zhou Xiaoyu; just thinking about her date with Xu Yanfeng tonight makes her overjoyed.

Forcing herself to calm down and read for a while, seeing the sun set behind the western hills, she began to primp and dress, changing into a black suit: the top is a vest style, the bottom an accordion pleated skirt, underneath the vest she wore a thin white camisole, the cuffs woven with a ring of wood-ear flower lace. Her long hair fell loose, and on one side of her ear she clipped an inconspicuous amber-colored hairpin.

After checking herself in the mirror, Xia Xi was very satisfied, grabbed her bag and went out.

Not knowing what time Xu Yanfeng gets off work, she didn't ask, and went straight to his residential compound.

Last time she had told Xu Yanfeng about the security guard stopping her from entering, he gave her an access card; as for the apartment door lock code, she also knew it, she entered it herself, and the door popped open with a "click."

She was like a little puppy, patting around east and west in the house, leaving her scent everywhere; only after wandering until tired did she sit down to rest.

Xu Yanfeng finished his work and rushed over, opened the door; the indoor lights were on, the spacious room didn't feel empty, Xia Xi was lying on her side on the sofa asleep, one arm hanging in the air, her black hair covering her already small face, the other hand still clutching her phone. One can imagine that before this she had definitely been playing with her phone, playing and playing, until she fell asleep without realizing it.

His steps were light; he walked over and knelt by the edge of the sofa.

Even though he made no sound, Xia Xi seemed to sense something, opened her eyes, her just-woken voice softer and stickier than usual: "You're back? What time is it?"

"Just past seven." Xu Yanfeng reached out to brush the hair from her face, "Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I'll take you."

Xia Xi didn't want to go out, suggested ordering takeout.

Xu Yanfeng refused to eat junk food, took on the task of ordering dishes; he chose a private cuisine restaurant that normally doesn't offer delivery, he called the boss, spoke a few words in a low voice, and the other party agreed to make an exception.

Xia Xi didn't get up from the sofa, lay flat, hugging a pillow and laughing: "You're so capable."

Xu Yanfeng glanced at her, said nothing, rose, took off his suit jacket, pulled off his tie, unbuttoned the cuffs and collar of his shirt—removing all constraints—then sat loosely beside her.

Xia Xi climbed up to sit in his lap, without a greeting, cupped his face and kissed him.

They kissed intermittently, both feeling hot all over, until the apartment building manager came and pressed the doorbell, only then did they part.

Xu Yanfeng's eyes were deep; he closed them, calmed himself for a moment, then stood up, went out to fetch the food, placed each dish into white porcelain bowls, arranged them on the table, and told Xia Xi to wash her hands and come eat.

Five dishes and one soup, meat and vegetable balanced, color, fragrance, and flavor all present; while eating, the two were somewhat silent, somewhat absent-minded, each time their gazes met, the air seemed to be able to draw silk.

Forgetting how they had washed, how they had embraced, how they had fallen onto the bed, they both understood without words, fully immersed.

Xia Xi slipped her fingers into Xu Yanfeng's short hair, her heart beating faster and faster, suddenly she thought of a question: "Wait… wait, do you have… that… at your place?"

"Which?" Xu Yanfeng's scorching lips fell on her neck's hollow, pausing briefly.

Xia Xi pounded his back: "You tell me."

Xu Yanfeng gave a muffled laugh, stopped teasing her: "Yes, in the bedside table drawer."

Xia Xi's breath scorching, she turned her head to nibble his chin: "Quickly say, do you really like me, are you infatuated with me, do you constantly miss me."

Xu Yanfeng: "Mm."

Xia Xi: "Perfunctory."

Xu Yanfeng had no choice but to speak clearly word by word: "Yes, I really like you, I'm infatuated with you, I constantly worry about you."

Xia Xi finally felt satisfied, the corner of her mouth slightly curled, her fingers touched his chin, and she placed a kiss on the spot where she had just bitten him on the ground.